Machines for the manufacture of cigar bunches and provided with a controllable dosing device for the filler tobacco



Sept. 25, 1962 H. F. M. CRAS 3, 55,373

MACHINES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGAR BUNCHES AND PROVIDED WITH A CONTROLLABLE DOSING DEVICE FOR THE FILLER TOBACCO Filed Sept. 26, 1961 INVENTOR HUBERTUS R M. CRAS ATTORNEY-S United States Patent U "ice MACHINES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGAR BUNCHES AND PROVIDED WITH A CONTROL- LABLE DOSING DEVICE FOR THE FILLER TOBACCO Hubertus F. M. Cras, Best, Netherlands, as'signor to Koninklijke Vereenigde Tabaksindustrieen Mignot & de Block Fifi I, Kanaalstraat, Netherlands, a company of the Netherlands Filed Sept. 26, 1961, Ser. No. 140,809 Claims priority, application Netherlands Sept. 29, 1960 3 Claims. (Cl. 131-21) The invention relates to a machine for the manufacture of cigar bunches, comprising a dosing device for the filler tobacco and a press adapted to compress intermittently the filler tobacco supplied by the dosing device so as to form a plug of said tobacco, said press consisting of a pressing chamber and a plunger mounted for reciprocation therein and being movably connected to a driving block mounted for reciprocation with a constant stroke, said plunger being adapted to be moved against the force of a spring with respect to said block by the charge of the pressing chamber, said dosing device being provided with a transport roller, which is intermittently driven through an angle, which depends on the end position of the plunger determined by the charge of the pressing chamber, by means of a ratchet wheel mechanism consisting of a ratchet wheel rigidly mounted on a shaft for driving the transport roller and ratchet cooperating with said ratchet wheel and mounted for swinging about said shaft, the angular stroke of said ratchet being dependent on the position of a driving element adapted to be locked by a separately releasable locking member in the position adjusted by the plunger. A machine of this construction is disclosed by the Netherlands Patent No. 83,958.

The invention has for its object to make the adjusting members of the dosing device simpler and lighter than those of the known machine, so that the machine is able to operate with greater velocity and also will be cheaper. It consists in that the driving element and the locking member are mounted on the driving block. The driving element may be formed as a cam adapted to be adjusted by the plunger and provided with a toothed segment or other toothed member, with which the locking member formed as a spring loaded pawl cooperates, whereas the ratchet for driving the transport roller may be coupled with a movable member, which cooperates with the cam during the return stroke of the driving block and is moved thereby. A simple construction is obtained, when the driving element consists of a two-armed lever pivotally mounted on the driving block and one arm of said lever is forced by a spring against a member connected to the plunger and the other arm thereof constitutes the cam. In the machine constructed in accordance with the invention only a single driving block reciprocating with a constant stroke serves for moving the plunger to and fro and for driving the tobacco supply device, whereas the dosing device is mounted as a complete unit on said block.

For the elucidation of the invention reference is made to the drawing which illustrates diagrammatically only that part of a cigar bunching machine which is essential to understand the invention.

A pressing chamber is designated by 1 and a plunger 2 is mounted for reciprocation in said chamber. In the pressing chamber the filler tobacco for the cigars and supplied by a dosing device is compressed, so that a plug is formed, of which each time a portion for the filler of one cigar hunch is cut off by a knife 3. The plunger 2 is coupled with a driving block 5 by means of a rod 4. Said driving block is reciprocated with a constant stroke by Patented Sept. 25, 1962 means of a two-armed lever 7, 8, which is mounted for swinging about a shaft 6. The arm 8 of said lever is forced by a spring 9 against a cam disc 10 of the main driving shaft 11. Connected between the driving block 5 and the plunger 2 is a compression spring 12, which enables the plunger to perform a smaller stroke than the block 5.

The dosing device consists of a conveying belt 13, which is led over a transport roller 14. Said belt moves scrap tobacco for the filler of the bunches to be manufactured from a container (not shown) to a chute l5 feeding the scrap tobacco thrown therein into the pressing chamber 1. A valve 17 pivotally mounted on a shaft 16 closes during the active stroke of the plunger 2 both the pressing chamber 1 and the chute 15. The transport roller 14 is intermittently driven by means of a rachet wheel 18 mounted on the shaft 19 of said roller and a ratchet 20 cooperating therewith and connected to an arm 21 mounted for swinging about said shaft. The arm 21 is connected by a rod 22 to a two-armed lever 24, 25 loaded by a spring 23 and forced in its rest position by said spring 23 against the stop a. The free end of the arm 25 is provided with a roller 26, which cooperates with a driving element mounted for swinging about an axis 27 on the driving block 5. Said driving element consists of a two-armed lever 28, 29, of which the arm 23 is forced by a spring 30 against a roller 31 provided at the end of the rod 4.

The arm 29 serves as a guide or cam for the roller 26 during the return stroke of the driving block 5. Connected to the driving element 28, 29 is a toothed segment 32, with which a pawl 33 also loaded by the spring 30 cooperates. For the release of the pawl 33 a separately controllable arm 34 is provided, which can be moved by means of a cam disc 38 mounted on the shaft 11 through a rod 35 and a two-armed lever 36, 37 pivotally provided on the shaft 6. This machine operates as follows:

If the pressing chamber contains a mass of scrap tobacco 4t) and the driving block 5 is moved to the left, the plunger 2 will be pushed against the tobacco 40 contained in the chamber 1 and will compress said tobacco with the pressure of the spring 12. During the movement to the left of the driving block 5 the pawl 33 is released by the arm "34, so that the driving element 28, 29 is forced by the spring 30 against the roller 31 mounted at the end of the rod 4 and the plunger 2 is enabled to adjust the driving element 28, 29 in a position corresponding to the size of the charge 40 of the chamber 1. As soon as the block 5 has reached its left hand end position, the pawl 33 is left free and the driving element 28, 29 is locked in the set position. If thereupon the block 5 is moved to the right, the cam 29 is passed under the roller 26 and the two-armed lever 24, 25 is swung through an angle which corresponds with the adjustment of the driving element 28, 29. The ratchet 20 will also be swung through said angle, so that the conveying belt 13 will be moved over a distance which also corresponds with the charge 40 of the pressing chamber 1. If the chamber 1 should contain little tobacco, the movement of the conveying belt 13 will be great and much tobacco will be supplied to said chamber, but should the pressing chamber 1 contain much tobacco, only a small amount of tobacco or no tobacco at all will the next time be supplied to the pressing chamber.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for the manufacture of cigar bunches, comprising a dosing device for filler tobacco, a pressing chamber, a plunger mounted for reciprocation in said chamber, said chamber and said plunger constituting a press, in which the filler tobacco supplied by the dosing device is periodically compressed, a driving block mounted for reciprocation with a constant stroke, said plunger being supported by said driving block and adapted to be moved against spring power with respect to said block by the charge of the pressing chamber, a transport roller forming part of said dosing device, a shaft for driving said roller, a ratchet wheel rigidly mounted on said shaft, a ratchet cooperating with said ratchet wheel and mounted for angular reciprocation about said shaft, said ratchet wheel and said ratchet constituting driving means for driving said transport roller intermittently through an angle, which depends on the end position of said plunger, said end position being in its turn determined by the charge of the pressing chamber, a driving element adapted to be adjusted by said plunger and a locking member adapted to be released independently and to lock said driving element in the position set by the plunger, the angular stroke of the ratchet being determined by said set position of said driving element, characterized in that the driving element and the locking member are mounted on the driving block.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, comprising a cam adapted to be adjusted by the plunger, a toothed member, said cam and said toothed member constituting together the said driving element, the locking member being constructed as a spring loaded pawl adapted to cooperate with said toothed member, and a movable member connected with the ratchet for driving the transport roller, said movable member being mounted for cooperation with said cam and moved by said cam during the re turn stroke of the driving block.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2, comprising a twoarmed lever pivotally connected to the driving block and constituting the driving element, a spring and a member attached to the plunger, one arm of said lever being forced against said member by said spring and the other arm thereof constituting the said cam.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 

